Tag Archives: Defoe

England qualified for the Round of 16 with a 1-0 victory over Slovenia. However, the United States’ late goal against Algeria means that England finish as runners up and potentially face a difficult Second Round game against Germany in Bloemfontein.

England came into today’s game knowing that they needed to win to secure passage from a group which had been taken too lightly by England.

Both sides started edgily. There were some poor defensive clearances from Glen Johnson, Matthew Upson for England and Cesar for Slovenia.

England were looking very nervous in the opening minutes. John Terry’s backpass giving Matthew Upson a moment of distress.

Slovenia, despite the unprecedentedly high stakes, were the brighter side in the opening ten minutes. Valter Birsa, Slovenia’s standout performer in the tournament, embarked on a series of mazy runs into the England half while his teammates Jovanovic and Kirm were stringing passes together and causing problems for England’s fullbacks.

England eventually settled. Frank Lampard attempted a free-kick from all of 35 yards. The infamous Jabulani changed direction twice before being secured by Samir Handanovic.

Ljubijankic, of KAA Gent, had a great chance to heap further pressure on Fabio Capello’s unimpressive side but was denied by a terrific saving block by John Terry.

James Milner and Jermain Defoe had been brought into the starting line up by Fabio Capello in place of Aaron Lennon and Emile Heskey. The pair justified their selection by combining to give England the lead. Milner, who had been dropped by Fabio Capello for the 0-0 draw with Algeria, supplying the cross for Jermain Defoe who shinned the ball towards goal. Samir Handanovic had been performing superbly for Slovenia but was unable to keep Defoe’s volley out.

The goal seemed to settle England appeared to settle England’s fragile nerves. As it stood England would progress at the head of the Group C table with the Slovenians scraping through as runners up ahead of the United States who were being held 0-0 by Algeria.

Another cross nearly brought England’s second. Handanovic came a long way to palm the swinging pass away but his parry fell only as far as Frank Lampard. The Chelsea midfielder, who had failed to reproduce his club form for his national side, failed to hit the target.

England were keen to press their advantage. Jermain Defoe’s low shot from just outside the penalty area was blocked by Handanovic. Wayne Rooney collected the loose ball and sent a delicate pass across the penalty area for Steven Gerrard. The England captain was unable to convert, as the Udinese goalkeeper managed to keep the ball from crossing the line.

It appeared that Slovenia were finally succumbing to the pressure of the occassion. The quick passing and movement from their earlier games against Algeria and the United States had deserted them as they struggled to control possession. England continued to threaten towards the end of the half but were unable to add to their tally.

Jermain Defoe had a glorious opportunity to score his second goal within forty seconds of the start of the second half. A quickly taken corner fell to the Tottenham Hotspur striker, but Defoe was only able to flick the ball wide with the outside of his boot.

Despite a dramatic deterioration in their form, Slovenia were still posing a threat to England. A terrific inswinging free-kick from Birsa was fisted away by David James. The slightest touch from the flailing right foot of Jovanovic would surely have leveled the game.

Another good delivery from Birsa was caught by David James as Slovenia began to edge back into the match.

John Terry, whose feeble attempt at instigating a squad revolt against Fabio Capello was rebuked by the former Real Madrid manager, came close from a corner. The Chelsea captain thumped a challenging header at Samir Handanovic from Steven Gerrard’s corner.

Wayne Rooney had yet to impress at the World Cup and was discouragingly out of form again this afternoon. The Manchester United striker, with ample time and space, was one-on-one with Handanovic but his poor control and scuffed shot allowed the goalkeeper to glance his shot onto the post. Rooney was later replaced by fan favourite Joe Cole. England’s talisman trudged off the field looking very much like a player short of confidence and the requisite match fitness to excel at a World Cup.

After Rooney’s dismal failure in front of goal England reverted to the same poor football that had shrouded their displays against the United States and Algeria. Long punts up the field from David James were England’s predominant attacking threat from the sixtieth minute onwards.

Slovenia themselves were relatively unthreatening, each foray into England territory was halted by a wayward pass or a poor control. As the scoreboard in Port Elizabeth ticked towards the ninetieth minute, England seemed desperate to cling on to their lead. Emile Heskey was introduced with the sole purpose of reproducing his lumbering attack-quashing form in the defensive third.

Slovenia sent more crosses into the England penalty area but were denied by Matthew Upson and David James, England hung on to secure safe passage to the last sixteen. The players and coaching staff stormed the pitch where excited celebrations followed a n unimpressive victory over a mediocre opponent.

If England are to reach the final, as their optimistic manager predicts, they will need drastic improvement in terms of ball retention and passing speed. As England’s players huddled on the pitch, news filtered through from Pretoria that Landon Donovan had rescued the United States with a stoppage time winner. The goal has severe implications for England’s ambitions. The United States now progress as group winners with the Three Lions facing a monumental task in the Second Round, should Germany beat Ghana tonight.

Fabio Capello expressed his pride in his players’ performances after the final whistle and about how his side played with ‘freedom’. The gushing of a certain gushing member of the British media referred to the win as being ‘more like the England we know.’ If this is the England we can expect in the knockout stages then the quest to end the forty-four year wait for World Cup glory will soon become forty-eight.

A dissapointing English side were held to a 0-0 draw by Algeria tonight in the Green Point stadium in Cape Town.

England had the majority of possession but weren’t able to find a goal, despite hurling players forward throughout the match.

A cagey opening ten minutes saw relatively few clear chances for either side.

David James was forced to punch away an Algerian cross, but his goal was never really threatened.

Algeria enjoyed large swathes of posession within the first twenty minutes as Karim Ziani and Hassan Yebda made dangerous incursions into the English third of the pitch.

On twenty-three minutes, Algeria forced a corner after some sustained pressure. James was forced to claim the high ball awkwardly to prevent Halliche getting a shot on goal.

Despite all their endeavour, England failed to create chances on the scale required.

Wayne Rooney wasted a chance by tugging on the shirt of Halliche and was reprimanded by referee Ravshan Irmatov.

On twenty-nine minutes, Frank Lampard tested Algerian ‘keeper Rais Bolhi with a low shot but Bolhi was able to get down to make the save.

Lampard tested Bolhi again three minutes later, after an English cross fell to the Chelsea midfielder less than ten yards out.

Bolhi made another excellent stop to deny England an opening goal.

Karim Ziani shot agonisingly wide from long range on thirty-four minutes after an Algerian counter-attack left the striker with a clear shot on goal.

England were reduced to testing the Algerian goal from long range due to a well-organised defence. Steven Gerrard had another chance after thirty-nine minutes but Bolhi was again equal to it.

John Terry consistently used a direct approach; the Chelsea defender passed on numerous occasions straight to Wayne Rooney and Emile Heskey but to no avail.

England went into half time the more disappointed side, as they had few chances and failed to put any sort of pressure on Algeria.

Another glorious chance was spurned by the English on fifty-five minutes- a fine move eventually led to Steven Gerrard feebly squaring a pass in the penalty area when Wayne Rooney was readying himself for a shot.

Wayne Rooney had his chance minutes later, but Aaron Lennon’s cross went just an inch too high to connect with Rooney’s head.

Chance after chance fell England’s way, but the attack was wasteful in its execution.

Emile Heskey went close again after an excellent passing move with Gareth Barry let him into a dangerous attacking position at the edge of the Algerian box.

Heskey’s shot deflected of an Algerian defender and went just over, and the resulting corner yielded another chance as Gerrard had a free header go straight to Bolhi in goal.

Jermain Defoe replaced Heskey after seventy-three minutes, and Defoe almost had an instant impact when his shot was cleared away after a skilful run into the box.

Defoe did liven up a dull England attack- forcing a number of corner kicks.

Algeria had few chances in the second half, with the ball being mired in their own third of the pitch for large parts of the half.

Jermain Defoe had a final long-distance shot from thirty yards on ninety minutes, but it sailed well over the crossbar.

Much will be made of the weight of ezpectation bearing down on the English team, but in truth this was an utterly dire performance from a team lacking in invention.

The move to 4-4-2 with Gerrard on the left seems to have led to a stagnant, toothless English team.

Algeria, on the other hand, will be more than happy with their performance, even if they lacked any real attacking threat.

There was no great fanfare to the announcement of England’s 23 man squad tasked with ending 34 years of hurt. Instead, the identities of the unlucky seven to be dropped from the provisional squad were disclosed in farcical fashion via Twitter.

The final 23 was subject to much speculation and rumours over the past week but as the situation became clearer it emerged that Fabio Capello had named the oldest ever England squad for a World Cup finals.

The most deliberated action of the day was the omission of Arsenal winger Theo Walcott. Capello’s decision to leave out Walcott came as a surprise despite Walcott’s indifferent season for Arsenal. The 21 year old, who was surprisingly included in the 2006 squad was devastated to learn that he would not be making the trip to South Africa. In a statement released after the announcement he said, “I am very disappointed not to be included in the squad going out to South Africa, but completely respect Mr Capello’s decision. I would like to wish the team the best of luck and hope they have a really successful tournament.”

Elsewhere, Ledley King trumped his Tottenham colleague Michael Dawson for the final defensive berth. While Stephen Warnock got the better of Leighton Baines in the struggle to be Ashley Cole’s understudy.

The highly anticipated announcement of Fabio Capello’s thirty man squad has finally been made. Contentious recalls for Jamie Carragher and Shaun Wright-Phillips aside there is an unfamiliar essence of variety about Capello’s squad, something that has been sorely missed by England in previous World Cups.

Amongst the forwards the bulk of Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch is coupled with the vitality and pace of Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent, while midfield inclusions Tom Huddlestone and James Milner should serve as worthy replacements should injury befall Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher, who had retired from international football before Capello’s appointment as England manager, has been added to the list of defenders potentially making their way to South Africa. There he will join Tottenham’s formidable partnership of Michael Dawson and Ledley King who have both impressed Capello sufficiently in the race for fourth spot in the Premier League.